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Mental Health and Social Work
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Perspectives of Healing Assignment 1
This essay is based on the subject of mental illnesses through mental institutions, but on the perspectives of how fear amongst the mentally ill patients and professional health care workers is driven by them. Within this assignment patient’s experiences with in mental hospitals. Thus looking at how beneficial mental institutions are for the mentally ill people that have been sectioned. Within the essay there is going to be a comparison between two chapters from two different books, written by two different authors. The first book is written by Hardcastle, M, et al (2007): In Experiences of Mental Health in Patient-Care: Chapter 9: Feeling Humiliated: Experiences of a black man, which will be referred to as extract one within the assay. The second book that is by, ‘Laurance, J (2003) How Fear Drives the Mental Health System: Chapter 1 The state we’re in pure Madness (pp.1-18)’, which will be referred to as extract two within this essay.
A mental hospital also referred to as a psychiatric hospital / wards are sub-units are regular hospitals that specialise in treating individuals with intense mental illnesses like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, plus many more… mental hospitals are all different and there are some that specialise in different types/ stages of mental illnesses, such as some will specialise in short-term outpatient therapy, which is for patients whose mental health is not that severe. However, there are other mental hospitals that do specialise in permanent care for patients do have a severe mental illnesses that requires consist treatment, assistance and a routine, that is in a controlled environment.
Jeremy Laurance is a writer the s...
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...pril 2014].
Death of black patient showed up race bias | UK news | The Guardian . 2014. Death of black patient showed up race bias | UK news | The Guardian . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/feb/06/race.politics. [Accessed 12 April 2014].
Deborah Lupton, 2012. Medicine as Culture: Illness, Disease and the Body. Third Edition Edition. SAGE publication Ltd.
Hardcastle, M,. et al (2007) Chapter 9: Feeeling Humiliated: Experiences of a black man In Exeriences of Mental Health in Patient-Care, ed. Hardcastle, M,. et al Hova, Routledge, pp.65.70
Laurance, J (2003). The state we’re in in Pure Madness: How Fear Drives Mental Health system, ed. Laurance, J London, Routledge, pp1.18.
NIMH • Psychotherapies. 2014. NIMH • Psychotherapies. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/psychotherapies/index.shtml. [Accessed 13 April 2014].
The traditional approach to the care of the mentally ill during the last 200 years was custodial, rather than therapeutic. This approach to “Psychiatric Care Delivery System” was introduced in India from Britain . Mental hospitals were established in isolated areas, often on the outskirts with the object of segregating the patient as troublesome and dangerous to their neighbors. The overriding concern was to protect the citizens without regard for appropriate care and cure of the ailing patients. As a consequence of this objective of the mental hospitals, the quality of care in such hospitals had been very poor. The inmates were subjected to indignity and humiliation for an indefinite period, and once admitted never recovered, or rehabilitated back in their family, but doomed to the inevitable end. The stigma of mental illness thus prevailed.
In the book “The Mad Among Us-A History of the Care of American’s Mentally Ill,” the author Gerald Grob, tells a very detailed accounting of how our mental health system in the United States has struggled to understand and treat the mentally ill population. It covers the many different approaches that leaders in the field of mental health at the time used but reading it was like trying to read a food label. It is regurgitated in a manner that while all of the facts are there, it lacks any sense humanity. While this may be more of a comment on the author or the style of the author, it also is telling of the method in which much of the policy and practice has come to be. It is hard to put together without some sense of a story to support the action.
I was very intrigued to hear about a book that was once again positively depicting a black man. It allowed me to think about how media and society has motioned us to not think of black men as CEO’s, doctors, and lawyers when we first hear of them. Dr. Tweedy’s memoir on how he has experienced racial issues, and finds health problems in the black community is very uplifting to know he wanted to pursue what was occurring. Though he was not from the south, he mentioned unequal practices that did occur in the south. Dr. Tweedy noticed many discreptencies within the black community economically, socially, and culturally. Dr. Tweedy endured a lot of discrimination during his process of becoming a physician, and of course after his process. As I previously stated, this notion is from this disgusting negative connation mostly white people receive from black men. Dr. Tweedy hope to work in an area where he would not have to endure racial tension; however, his future though otherwise and he was exposed to a harsh experience of institutionalized racism first hand. It was an fortunate and unfortunate case that race influenced Dr. Tweedy relationship with patients. It was an advantage because it opened his eyes to the discreptencies with black Americans in healthcare, and it was a disadvantage that he sustained racial incidents to bring this situation to the light. Dr. Tweedy well
For many decades the mentally ill or insane have been hated, shunned, and discriminated against by the world. They have been thrown into cruel facilities, said to help cure their mental illnesses, where they were tortured, treated unfairly, and given belittling names such as retards, insane, demons, and psychos. However, reformers such as Dorothea Dix thought differently of these people and sought to help them instead. She saw the inhumanity in these facilities known as insane asylums or mental institutions, and showed the world the evil that wandered inside these asylums. Although movements have been made to improve conditions in insane asylums, and were said to help and treat the mentally ill, these brutally abusive places were full of disease and disorder, and were more like concentration camps similar to those in Europe during WWII than hospitals.
Continuing budget cuts on mental health care create negative and detrimental impacts on society due to increased improper care for mentally ill, public violence, and overcrowding in jails and emergency rooms. Origins, of mental health as people know it today, began in 1908. The movement initiated was known as “mental hygiene”, which was defined as referring to all things preserving mental health, including maintaining harmonious relation with others, and to participate in constructive changes in one’s social and physical environment (Bertolote 1). As a result of the current spending cuts approaching mental health care, proper treatment has declined drastically. The expanse of improper care to mentally ill peoples has elevated harmful threats of heightened public violence to society.
This stereotype contributes to the stigma individuals’ face and encourages social exclusion and intolerance, especially in schizophrenia (Ray & Brooks Dollar, 2014). Ken sought out help and went to the emergency room because he recognized he was severely depressed. There, the doctor promised he would not be put in restraints, yet when he was taken to the hospital, he was placed in restraints because it was company policy (Steele & Berman, 2001). Due the stigma that individuals with mental illness are violent, Ken was not treated fairly (Stuart & Arboleda-Florez, 2012). Stuart and Arboleda-Florez (2012) are very credible authors to be writing on the effects of stigma in mental health. Both authors have experience in psychiatry, combatting stigma and mental health issues.
A lot of thoughts and observations come to mind while watching The New Asylums. This is a documentary about life in prison for people who have mental diseases, so some of the thoughts and observations are actually quite sad. Many of the prisoners shown in the documentary look sad and defeated, and they have a right to, because having a mental disease even in the real world is very hard. In prison, they are allowed to refuse their medication, although at least there are people who will try to help them. Still, it looks miserable, even more miserable than prison looks for people who aren't suffering from a disease like schizophrenia. Mental illness is often used as the punch line of a joke, but like most other punch lines, it isn't that funny because it offends and demeans a whole subgroup of people. Subgroups are actually what stick out the most and make up the previously mentioned thoughts and observations. While watching all of this sadness on the screen, it's hard not to notice that there are some trends. The documentary was filmed in an all-male prison, so trends in gender aren't shown by the movie, but even the casual observer will notice that most of the inmates who are interviewed or showcased are people of color. This could indicate one of two things: there is a higher number of people of color who are affected by mental disorders or there is a higher number of people of color who are persecuted and tried by the law, ending up in prisons such as the one in the movie. Studying criminology is important because those questions matter, not just to the ruling group of the legal system, but to the individuals affected by disease and persecution, to their families, and to their communities. Investigating an obvious trend helps ans...
Mental illness is more common than one would like to believe. In reality, one in five Americans will suffer from a mental disorder in any given year. Though that ratio is about equivalent to more than fifty-four million people, mental illness still remains a shameful and stigmatized topic (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d.). The taboo of mental illness has an extensive and exhausting history, dating back to the beginning of American colonization. It has not been an easy road, to say the least.
Walsh, Jason. "All in our heads: have we taken psychiatry too far?"Irish Times 14 Aug.2010,
The BBC documentary, Mental: A History of the Madhouse, delves into Britain’s mental asylums and explores not only the life of the patients in these asylums, but also explains some of the treatments used on such patients (from the early 1950s to the late 1990s). The attitudes held against mental illness and those afflicted by it during the time were those of good intentions, although the vast majority of treatments and aid being carried out against the patients were anything but “good”. In 1948, mental health began to be included in the NHS (National Health Service) as an actual medical condition, this helped to bring mental disabilities under the umbrella of equality with all other medical conditions; however, asylums not only housed people
Describes life within a psychiatric hospital. Fascinating account of diagnosis and treatment with facility. Portrait of the inner workings of the psyche. Treatment controversies and economic pressures.
There are so many types of mental illnesses that affect people every day. When some people think of mental illnesses they think of the ones that would cause people to have physical symptoms as well, but that’s untrue, there are many more that you would never know anyone has if you were to see them on the street. As defined by the 2008 encyclopedia “a mental illness is any disease of the mind or brain that seriously affects a person’s ability or behavior. Symptoms of a mental illness may include extreme moods, such as excessive sadness or anxiety, or a decreased ability to think clearly or remember well.” A mentally ill person has severe symptoms that damage the person’s ability to function in everyday activities and situations. Every nation and every economic level can be affected by a mental illness. In the United States alone about 3% of the population has severe mental illness and to add to that number about 40% of people will experience a type of mental illness at least once in their lives. Some cases of mental illnesses can go away on their own, but some cases are so severe that they require professional treatment. There is so much more available to help people recover from their symptoms than in the past.
When society thinks of healthcare, there are many racial disparities within healthcare, especially in treatment. How being a person of color in the United States can be difficult when it comes to accessing health care, especially in the hospital. In the United States, there seems to be a separation between physicians and patient, which contributes to the disparities in quality of healthcare. The hospital is a place where people should feel equally treated. The hospital is also a place where can be refused medical attention due to their socioeconomic status, race and gender. A patient needs to have confidence in the capability of their physician, so that they can be able to confide in him or her. When a person goes to the hospital to have
Mental health is just as important as physical health in a person’s life. Mental health is critical to a person’s well-being, their ability to live a productive life and to keep a healthy family and interpersonal relationships. Mental health does not just affect the mind it also affects people’s physical health. Some physical health diseases can cause a mental health disorder and vice versa. Mental health disorders are associated with the occurrence, development, and outcome of some of the today’s most chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. When people go untreated from a mental health disorder are at a higher risk for many unhealthy behaviors such as alcohol and drug use, violent behavior, and suicide.
Mental health refers to the state of individuals psychologically, emotionally and socially. Mental health affects a person’s emotions, feelings, thoughts, and sections when exposed to different situations. Furthermore, mental health is responsible for a person’s reaction to stress and other social conditions. Generally, mental health affects how a person relates to others and their ability to understand and interact with them. Therefore, problems that affect a person’s mental health affect the abilities to socialize, their feelings, moods, reaction to situations. The person experiencing mental health problem may portray different behaviors when confronted with different issues. Mental health issues have several